The Last Bottle

My very good friend had just come home from a prolonged and very difficult hospital stay, on comfort care/hospice. He was rapidly failing, but had a strong need to meet in person with extended family, and his closest friends, to explain his situation and his decisions. And with us, of course, to share some wine, which we had done many, many, many times before. He had actually planned for 4 different groups (he had many friends). Thankfully we were in the first group, as he only made it through the first two. He left us 3 days later, on a day with gusty, 40 knot winds to speed him on his way.

The bottle was a 2007 Mont-Redon CdP. It tasted almost exactly like a big piece of warm, ripe blackberry pie. It was not a bottle that either of us would have ordinarily chosen to share, but this was what was at hand, and it was not an ordinary time. In the context of the occasion, it was absolutely beautiful.

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Very heartwarming post, thank you for sharing.

No question wine has brought many of us together who otherwise would’ve never met. Wine has been a basis for many a special friendship that otherwise just might not have made sense.

I hope your friend, you, his friends and family find peace as he crosses that bridge.

Peace, John.

Thank you John, good reminder to stop and smell the blackberry pie every once in a while.

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Thanks for sharing that John.

Warming story and one I think about frequently these past two years as my age ripens.

condolences on the loss of your friend.

I am sorry, John. Telling the story is now part of the memory, a good thing.

Thank you John. A friendly reminder to drink more wine before your time.

Thank you John. A friendly reminder to drink more wine before your time.

Great post. That’s friendship. I’m sorry for your loss.

Thank you for sharing.

Thank you John. I can almost smell the pie on the windowsill.

Thanks, everyone. You know, it really took a lot of fortitude on his part to do this. He was very weak. He told his wife that he really didn’t need or want to see folks at this point, but he wanted to do it to give his friends a chance to see him one last time if they wanted to.

Condolences, John. I am glad you were able to spend some time with him before he passed. Your post combined the beauty of wine and the fragility of life in the same context.